The Clay County Bulldogs captured the first state championship in school history with a 62-52 win over MAHS in the TSSAA BlueCross Class A state championship game on Saturday in Murfreesboro.
The Bulldogs survived a slow start and got a huge performance by Grant Strong to bring a gold ball home to Celina.
“I’m pretty speechless right now,” said CCHS head coach Rob Edwards. “It’s something we had in our sights and something we thought we had a good chance at. We’re just all ecstatic.”
The Lions raced out to a 12-0 lead before Keaton Arms made a contested layup to get the Bulldogs on the board. The Bulldogs began to immediately recover as Strong scored the final six points of the frame to cut the deficit to 15-10.
Clay County then began to get to the free throw line in the second quarter. Strong made eight free throws to cut the deficit to 22-20. Jimmy Burchett then made two free throws after an MAHS basket. Strong then gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game with a buzzer-beating half-court shot to give CCHS a 25-24 lead at halftime.
“We dug ourselves that hole early on, but we were able to get back in it,” said Edwards. “Going into the locker room we had the momentum at that point, and I thought maybe we had (MAHS) on their heels. We just had to adjust and settle in.”
GRANT
STONG@grantstrong8 just put the Bulldogs on his back in the second quarter and capped it off with this buzzer beater.Halftime
Clay County 25
MAHS 24 pic.twitter.com/MPRtzrxwf2— Noah McKay (@NoahMcKayUCR) March 20, 2021
The Lions showed resiliency in the third quarter, regaining a four-point lead at the midway point of the frame. Gunnar Silk then buried a three after a ferocious block by Strong to cut the deficit to one. Jeffery
Jeffery Spivey regained the lead for CCHS with 1:28 remaining in the frame with a second-chance layup. Strong made a putback to give the Bulldogs a 44-40 lead at the end of three.
Silk extended the lead to five with a layup early in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs then went on a 12-0 run, propelled by seven points by Silk to take a commanding 58-45 lead. The Lions then scored four straight, but Strong hit a jumper with 2:00 remaining to put the game away and secure the state title.
“There’s nothing sweeter in high school athletics than being a state champion,” said Edwards.
Strong, who was also named tournament MVP and Mr. Basketball after the game, led the way with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
“This is what a lot of guys live for,” said Strong. “This is just amazing. The first one in school history. It’s just awesome.”
Silk tallied 19 points. Spivey scored eight. Arms added four and Burchett scored two.
“Words can’t explain how I feel right now,” said Silk, who is the Bulldogs’ lone senior. “Being number one at the end of the year really says it all. It’s unbelievable.”
The win came in the Bulldogs’ second appearance in the championship game in school history. Edwards said his team is excited to bring a gold ball home to their fans in Celina.
“Clay County is a great place to be a basketball coach,” said Edwards. “It’s a great community. We have a lot of great support.”
